A
statue of Benjamin Franklin stands outside of the Old Post Office Building in
Washington, D.C. - Daniel M. Silva / Shutterstock.com
“This Treaty between America and France brings us lasting friendship and shows our support for each nation’s independence against attempts by the British to challenge our library.”
– Ben Franklin
The British-American colonies experienced tremendous
growth during the eighteenth century as European immigrants flocked to the
shores of America. The British looked down upon the colonies as a refuge for
misfits and castoffs, whose only purpose was to provide raw materials and pay
taxes to the homeland. The fly in the ointment for the British was that they
expected this motley crew of rejects to kick back and accept their
socio-political and economic exploitation without fighting back.
But each time they burdened the colonies with new
mandates and taxes, they met opposition. The British never thought this melting
pot, which included many enlightenment thinkers, would soon tell them to leave
– or else! Due to this political and cultural gap between England and the
colonies, it wasn’t if the colonies would revolt, it was when. The colonies
were better prepared for insurrection than the British anticipated. They had
plans in place for independence long before the revolution.
Our founders had prepared for the revolution years before
the first muskets or cannons were fired. Thomas Paine stirred up the colonies
with his pamphlets and speeches. Patrick Henry encouraged them to revolt.
Samuel Adams planned our first attack. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence. James Madison, George Washington, Alexander
Hamilton, and a host of others played strategic roles. But the wisest founder,
Ben Franklin, assured them victory.
Franklin’s role in our founding has been eclipsed by his
numerous talents, tremendous wisdom and his countless attainments. He was a
doctor, a writer, printer, a philosopher, politician, inventor, postmaster,
humorist, scientist, civic activist, a teacher, a statesman, diplomat and more.
He was also our wisest founder who helped mediate the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution. Above all he formed strategic foreign
alliances the colonies needed to start and win the Revolution.
Our founders knew they could not fight the British on
their own. Ben Franklin volunteered to seek out nations willing to form
alliances against the Crown. He knew the Dutch and British fleets were battling
for trading turf so he negotiated a treaty with the Dutch to remain neutral. So
this enabled them to sell us arms and gunpowder they could ship to neutral St.
Eustatius Island. This benefited both the Dutch and the colonies.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
– Ben Franklin
On April 19, 1775, when the British were defeated at
Lexington and Concord, the British rearmed and seized New York. As the
Revolution moved forward, the strength of the British army became obvious. The
colonies knew they needed help. Knowing the British and the French were at
odds, Franklin and John Adams drafted a treaty between the two nations and Franklin
set sail for France.
The Treaty of Alliance was for mutual security. If
Britain attacked France, America would ally with them. And the French would
ally with America against the British. It was signed on Feb. 6, 1778. The
Treaty of Alliance required that neither France nor America agree to separate
treaties with Great Britain. And an independent America would be a condition of
any future treaties. The Treaty of Alliance included trade protections for both
nations.
When the British were defeated at Saratoga, the French
eagerly entered the war to help their American friends gain independence.
Fourteen decades later, America was about to return the favor. By 1917 during
World War I, every French family had been touched by the injury and loss of
loved ones. The war was entering its fourth year with no end in sight. On July
3, 1917, members of the U.S. 2nd Battalion arrived in Paris. These Americans
were an instant symbol of deliverance for the people who had waited for hours
to greet them at the Gare d’Austerlitz. French nurses fed them lunch and tended
to the ill. They were then escorted to their barracks for a much-needed rest
and dinner, which included their best champagne.
Members of the U.S. battalion knew the next day was the
4th of July but didn’t give it much thought. The French were in the middle of a
war fighting to keep their freedom and that was more important. But the next
morning, the French Republican Guard marching band arrived in front of Gen.
John J. Pershing’s residence in Paris with a cheering crowd. Pershing came to a
window when he heard the Star Spangled Banner as the crowd removed their hats
and held their hearts in respect for him.
– General Pershing
Pershing and the 16th Infantry joined the French
battalion and marched to central Paris. President Raymond Poincaré, other
dignitaries, along with decedents of American Revolution French officers
honored Pershing. This symbol of Franco-American friendship occurred at the
very location where Napoleon declared a day of mourning for the passing of
George Washington. Pershing said, “I do not recall any occasion as significant
as this that ever showed the French’s affection for America.”
The American and French battalions along with the
military bands marched to Picpus Cemetery to visit the grave of the Marquis de
Lafayette. During the American Revolution, French aristocrat and military
officer Lafayette fought in our Revolution. He commanded American troops in the
battle of the Siege of Yorktown. He was one of the many great French heroes of
the American Revolution.
Thousands of Parisians had lined the parade route to
cheer as the American soldiers marched by. They waved American flags in honor
of the American’s Independence. Others joined their march as they crossed the
Seine. As they approached, the Bastille women pushed into the ranks walking arm
in arm with the U.S. soldiers. They gave flowers to our soldiers and sang our
national anthem. Pershing said, “That was a very special day, we brought a
sense of hope to the fatigued Parisians.”
Ben Franklin said, “A man cannot defend his own liberty
if he fails to defend his neighbor’s also.” The French came to our aide during
the Revolutionary War, and now we had entered WWI to aide them. They in turn
showed their gratitude to us by celebrating the greatest day in American
history.
In recognition of his role in aiding the American cause,
an American flag has flown over Lafayette’s grave since the end of WWI. The
flag is changed every July 4 in a highly orchestrated ceremony attended by
French and American dignitaries, including representatives of the U.S. Embassy,
the French Senate, the Mayor’s Office of the 12th Arrondissement, the Society
of American Friends of Lafayette, the Sons of the American Revolution in
France, and the Society of Cincinnati in France.
The French showed the love and respect they had for
America that day. We can only hope our own citizens do the same this July 4th
for the blessings she has given us. Franklin convinced the French that the
American Dream was the same as their Dream and they helped obtain that Dream
for America. How can anyone disrespect America or her love for us?
"God grant that not only the love of liberty but a
thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the
earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say:
This is my country."
– Ben Franklin
Contributing
Columnist William Haupt III is a retired professional journalist, author, and
citizen legislator in California for over 40 years. He got his start working to
approve California Proposition 13.
